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Brazil Church leaders speak against decriminalisation of abortion

Tuesday, 7th August 2018

Representatives of the Brazilian bishops’ conference argued in front of the country’s Supreme Court against the decriminalisation of abortion.

Reiterating the Catholic Church’s teaching “in the defence of life from its conception until its natural death,” Bishop Ricardo Hoerpes of Rio Grande, Brazil, said that the issue was not for the court to decide.

“How will the Supreme Court explain a capital punishment sentence of an innocent, defenceless human being to justify our incapacity in producing adequate public policies when it comes to women’s reproductive rights?” the bishop asked the court, which was preparing whether to decide decriminalising abortion.

A fetus cannot be addressed as another human body part, he said.

“It looks like we’re talking about a gallbladder, a kidney, or an appendix that we need to extirpate, which is causing women to die. The focus is wrong,” Bishop Hoerpes said to a room full spectators.

The bishop also stressed that the question focus on the existence of the baby.

“The right to life is the most fundamental of rights and, therefore, more than any other, must be protected. It is a right intrinsic to the human condition and not a concession of the state. The powers of the republic have an obligation to guarantee and defend it,” he said.

Picture: Young people keep vigil in front of Brazil’s Supreme Court in an attempt to influence ministers to vote against the legalisation of abortion in 2012 in Brasilia. Brazil’s high court was considering decriminalising abortion after hearings on 3rd and 6th August. (CNS photo/Ueslei Marcelino, Reuters).